No job too small if it serves the Lord

I wanted to earn extra money. But in that day and time, unless a person’s family owned a business, there were not too many jobs for 14 and 15 year olds.

Today, a teenager in junior high and high school can work various places. But I did get a job early on and it served two purposes, and as a result, has made a lasting impression upon my life. In this job, I really felt “called.”

God calls people no matter what the age. First He calls us all to put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and then He calls us to work and produce fruits of the spirit in His kingdom.

I accepted the Lord at a young age. Then as I grew older, I felt the need to act on the second call — to work in service for the Lord in some capacity.

My first place of service for the church was working as the bulletin folder. The church staff needed someone to fold bulletins, so my sister Susie and I collectively felt the call and believed it a job that we could do well. Daddy mentioned to the office staff that we had volunteered, and we found ourselves with a job folding bulletins for the Sunday service.

The pay was not great — 50 cents a week each for Susie and me and then 25 cents extra if there was an insert. We both received whopping $2.50 checks at the end of the month.

Daddy would bring home the flat sheets of paper printed on both sides Friday afternoon. Susie and I would work on folding sometime between Friday and Saturday afternoon. We worked out a system, and after some practice, became experts at bulletin folding, completing the job in two hours.

But it was much more than a job for us.

Susie and I felt important being privy to the contents of the bulletin before Sunday service. We believed too that we carried a solemn responsibility because if we did not come through, the bulletins would not be folded, and the congregation would not know the order of worship.

It was an important and vital matter. All the names of the sick members were listed in the bulletin. How would anyone know who to pray for or what church activities were planned for the week if we did not fold the bulletins?

Susie and I believed we were actively involved in God’s work. I felt that at an early age I would say with Isaiah, “Here I am, Lord send me.”

We may think our jobs in the Kingdom are insignificant. Yet God will use our willingness to advance His work. It is not the amount of talents that we have, but it is our readiness to give ourselves to God’s call.

I understand the church would not have closed if Susie and I had not folded the bulletins. But Susie and I have talked about it since. We both feel that this experience caused us early on to know what it was like to be involved in serving God. That was a significant spiritual benchmark for both of us that has endured through the years.

Judy Brandon is a Clovis resident. Contact her at:
cbrandon@plateautel.net